Fired Up
by RukoYukine
Summary: Susan Storm has been married to Reed Richards for a few years, and Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm have moved out. When Johnny comes to Susan requesting a huge favor, Susan can't refuse. However, the request is for Susan to take Johnny's illegitimate daughter and raise her as her own child. What will Susan do when the child starts to exhibit the powers of the Human Torch, though?
1. A Promise

The day that someone knocked on the door at 5:30 a.m., Susan Richards knew that something was wrong.

She had been asleep, but she had woken up to the smell of smoke. Rolling over, Susan tried to call her husband Reed to open the door. When she opened her eyes, though, she saw that Reed was not next to her in bed.

_Typical_, she thought. Reed was always in the lab. Susan sighed. She would have to open the door.

Stumbling, Sue walked over to the front hall. She rubbed her eyes as she turned the knob with the other hand.

Standing in front of her was a young man with blond hair sticking up. He had on a black jacket with red flames and a desperate expression on his face. He was holding a small bundle.

"Johnny!" Susan screamed, startled. She hadn't seen her brother since he and Ben had moved out of the Baxter building after she and Reed had gotten married. Ben had gotten married to Alicia and was living happily, but she hadn't heard from Johnny in a few years.

She enveloped her Johnny in her arms, squeezing him so hard that the little bundle in his arms cried out.

Susan stepped backward and examined the bundle. What she had initially thought was a pile of blankets was something entirely different.

Johnny Storm was holding a baby.

Susan gasped. "Wha - ? Johnny, what is this?"

Johnny looked down, ashamed. "This is my baby girl. Her name is Victoria," he mumbled.

"Oh, but Johnny, she is so sweet!" Susan exclaimed. "She is just so precious! Who's the mother? Why wasn't I invited to the wedding?!" Susan was wide awake, now.

Then, she caught sight of Johnny's expression. It was not a proud one. "Oh, Johnny..." she murmured.

"I... Her mom's name is Bridget. We met... at a bar..." Johnny paused. "I'm sorry, sis," he whispered. "We never got married. Bridget showed up at my place when I was kind of short on rent money, and I was in trouble of eviction... then she came, and she thrust the baby into my arms. I'm not sure when her birthday is, or how old she is exactly, but Bridget said she didn't want her, and she told me to take responsibility for her. Said her name was Victoria, named after her... her husband, Victor..."

Susan stared at her little brother. "Why didn't you tell me? You could have asked Reed and I for money, you should know that! And why did you go out with this Bridget person if you knew she had a husband? How could you be so irresponsible, Johnny? You're a grown man! You have to start acting like one!"

Johnny looked sheepish. "That's why I didn't tell you, Sue. I knew that you'd rat me out and start talking about responsibility."

Susan opened her mouth to protest, but deep in her heart, she knew it was true. She couldn't help it. She cared about her little brother. To her, he would always be the little boy that she had taught how to yo-yo and that had tattled on her when she put on her mom's make-up.

Johnny glanced at Susan desperately. "Look, sis, I gotta go. I just came by to give you Victoria."

Susan was baffled. "Isn't she your daughter, Johnny?"

Johnny shook his head. "I can't keep her. I'm behind on the rent, and I can't really afford to have another mouth to feed right now. Please, Sue! I know that you and Reed can give her a good life! I trust you! Please do it!"

Susan's heart melted. "Alright," she nodded. "I'll take her and raise her like my own child. What will she think of you, though, Johnny?"

"What do you mean?" Johnny asked, confused.

"What will she think about you, a father who abandoned his daughter?"

Johnny shook his head. "You can't tell her, ever."

She gasped. "But - !"

Johnny interrupted her. "You can't tell her, Sue! Please! I love her already, but I can't keep her! Promise me you'll let her grow up happy and loved."

Susan nodded. "I promise."

Johnny eyed his sister for a second, and then he nodded. "Alright, then." He turned and walked away, leaving behind a little girl, a loving sister, and a promise.


	2. Waking Up

"Oh, no, no, no, no!" a voice was screaming. Susan groaned a little. The voice was familiar, but she wasn't exactly sure why it seemed familiar. Drifting in the chasm between consciousness and sleep, Susan's mind was spinning.

The scream echoed, louder this time. _Victoria_, Susan thought. Her eyes snapped open. Fully awake, she realized that the screaming was indeed coming from across the hall, from Torchie's room.

She jumped out of bed and ran down the hall.

To her horror, she saw that her adopted daughter was ablaze, flames rising from her fine, blond hair, licking the mattress on which she was sitting. No doubt, she had woken up that morning to the scent of smoke, and still dazed, found herself smoking – literally.

Susan could only stand in the doorway and stare. She wasn't prepared for this. It seemed surreal that after 13 years, such a thing would happen.

"Mom, do something!" Torchie shrieked, still incredulous at her flaming skin.

"Calm down, Torchie," Susan murmured. She saw her niece's face contort. _Torchie_. Of course the name would be ironic. She had been referred to as Torchie since she was just an infant, two years old. Ben had come to visit. She had stared him down, lip stuck out, an impudent sparkle in her eye. Ben had burst out laughing and exclaimed, "She's Johnny boy's alright!" Susan wasn't amused, but Torchie had giggled. She wasn't laughing now.

"Calm down? Calm down?! How can I calm down?!" She was panicking now. Susan grimaced.

"Sweetie, just breathe, okay? Breathe." Susan held her own breath, praying that the flames would die down.

Sure enough, when Torchie breathed, the flames extinguished themselves. The smell of smoke lingered in the air.

Susan looked at her. "I think we need to talk with Reed," she said.

"Gee, you think?" Torchie mumbled sarcastically. Under normal circumstances, Susan would have scolded her for back talking, so accustomed was she to being Torchie's mother, but the sudden appearance of Torchie's unnatural powers had jolted her, reminding her who Torchie's _real_ parents were.

Reed was typing in his lab, his stretchy fingers clacking with impressive speed. He didn't even notice his wife and adopted daughter step into the room.

"Reed, we need to talk," Susan announced.

"Sure, what is it?" Reed mumbled halfheartedly, his mind on something, literally, thousands of miles away.

"Torchie's got her powers."

Reed's head jerked up so quickly that his brown hair flopped up before settling back. Susan noticed the white streaks on the side of his hair. She wondered how much more stress this would put him under. She knew that he always thought that accident up in space so many years ago had been his fault. Imagine his guilt, then, now that he knew that Torchie had inherited the cosmic radiation from her father.

"Alright," Reed muttered, stepping away from his research. "Do you suppose now is a good time to tell her?"

"As good as any," Susan sighed.

"What?" Torchie asked, impatient. She was wondering why her mother had dragged her here, and what any of this had to do with her waking up in flames.

"Victoria," Susan began, and instantly, Torchie knew that the answer to her question wouldn't be good. Susan never used her real name unless it was something bad.

"Victoria, I promised not to tell you this, thirteen years ago," Susan continued, "but I've got to tell you this. Your name isn't Victoria Richards. It's Victoria Storm."

"What?" Torchie's forehead crinkled in confusion. That couldn't be right, because Storm was Susan's maiden name, and the only person she'd ever heard called by the last name Storm was…

"My younger brother, Johnny, is your father, Victoria."


	3. The Smartest Man in the World

13 years earlier

"Reed, we need to talk." Susan's voice was flat. She didn't really know what to feel: excitement over her first niece, shame for her brother, responsibility for the baby, so many emotions piled up that in the end, it was easier not to express any emotion at all than to express a single emotion. She waited for her husband to look up. When he continued tinkering with his stupid gadgets, Susan felt another emotion wash over her – anger.

Still holding Victoria in one hand, she reached in between Reed's hands and smacked his newly built remote control, sending it crashing to the floor, splintering into over fifty pieces.

"Susan, that was unreasonable," Reed responded, annoyed at his beloved toy's death.

"Reed," Susan said, sharply, "We have some more pressing matters to attend to than how to cure alien races of let's-destroy-Earth-itis!" She gestured toward the little baby in her arms, who, by now, was awake and crying.

Reed stared in shock. "Um…that's a baby," the smartest man in the world stated dumbly.

"Yes," Susan glared. "I know it is a baby. Her name is Victoria, and she just happens to be the daughter of my little brother, Johnny." Her voice was measured, but shaking. She said each word carefully, as if to avoid choking on the foreign concept of Victoria's illegitimacy.

"I… Well… That's…" Reed, for one, was dumbstruck. He didn't know what to say. At last, he managed, "Who's the mother?"

Susan shook her head. "That's the thing. I don't know. Some lady named Bridget; that's what Johnny told me."

"So… Why aren't Johnny and Bridget here?" Reed was truly perplexed by this strange turn of events.

"They aren't married, for one thing," Susan began. Reed stared at her like she had suddenly turned bright neon orange. "For another thing, Bridget was already married, and Johnny wants us to adopt his kid because he can't afford rent, right now, and he doesn't want his kid growing up in a bad environment." She sighed. "I guess I can't really say it's irresponsible of him, but it wasn't the most responsible thing to father a child when he barely knew the woman, either."

Reed continued to hold her gaze. "Susan, I don't know if we can do this," he finally admitted. "After all, we've got Marin and Richard to consider, too."

"I know," Susan sighed.

She thought about her two year old daughter and three year old son. They were both as sharp as tacks, obviously inheriting their father's genius brain, and they would no doubt wonder where this new addition to the family came from.

It wasn't that Reed and Susan couldn't afford to take care of the child. They had the rent money, and although Reed constantly spent money on his fancy inventions, the profits always outweighed the expenses, so far. It was just the fact that it was a lot of responsibility needed to take care of a child. Susan didn't know what to do.

"You know, Susan," Reed began, interrupting her thoughts. "Once Marin and Richard are old enough, we probably will be too old to go saving the world anymore."

Now it was Susan's turn to stare. What was her husband talking about?

It was true that the Fantastic Four had been superheroes, but now they'd all settled down. She and Reed had both settled down and had kids, and Ben had married Alicia. Susan even knew that they had a daughter, named Mary. Johnny had always been a bit of a free spirit, so it didn't really surprise Susan that he hadn't gotten married. Slowly, though, the Fantastic Four had drifted apart. Leave saving the world to young heroes like Spider-Man. Leave all that to the Avengers, who were just as old as Susan, but hadn't stopped being heroes. What really mattered to Susan was her life with Reed, her life with the kids. She couldn't be a superhero because it'd be too dangerous. She wouldn't be able to protect her own family. Susan was confused, then, when Reed spoke of being heroes once again.

Reed noticed his wife's expression, and gently, he put his hand on her shoulder. "What I mean," he murmured, "is that when the kids are grown up, the world won't need us anymore. We won't be able to save people. Why don't we save this one child, then, while we still can?"

Susan glanced down at the small bundle. Victoria had quieted down a bit and was now regarding Susan with eyes as blue as the glare of Reed's computer screen. Her downy, white blond hair curled sweetly on her forehead. She gurgled.

Susan smiled sadly. "Alright," she replied. Reed could be spacey, sometimes, but somehow, he would always remind Susan that he was the smartest man in the world.

She kissed Victoria's forehead. "Welcome to the family, Victoria," she crooned.


	4. Christmas Day

Eight years ago

"MOMMY!" Torchie came running into the room, flinging herself onto Susan and Reed's bed.

"Mmmpf," Reed mumbled. "Torchie, it's too early to be up." He glanced over at the digital clock by their bedside. It read December 25th. That explained Torchie's excitement. "It's only five thirty…"

Torchie tilted her head and poked Reed in the forehead. "Daddy, let's open presents," she exclaimed, bouncing excitedly on the bed. She jumped up and down, her small body squishing Mr. Fantastic's.

"Oof," Reed smiled gently. "Ah, Torchie, don't! You're crushing me! You're – AHHHHHH!" he pretended to scream as he stretched out in the shape of a giant cushion, bouncing his adopted daughter.

Torchie giggled while bouncing on this makeshift trampoline. She loved Reed.

This continued on for the next five minutes, but all of a sudden, Torchie seemed to remember her mission, and sliding off, she put her hands on her hips and addressed Reed:

"Daddy, I wanna open presents!" She stamped her foot on the floor impatiently, making Susan crack up. It had been a while, but Johnny was the same way when he was Victoria's age.

Suddenly, Reed and Susan's two children, Marin and Richard, ran in the room. Richard was three years older than Torchie, eight, and he had stopped believing in Santa since he was age three. Marin, being seven, and not having inherited her father's genius mind like her brother, still believed in Santa. She was a little sprite of a girl with blue eyes and soft, walnut brown hair. Richard had the same color hair, although tousled quite a bit, but his eyes, which were the same shade of blue as Susan's, were magnified by his thick glasses.

Susan laughed, seeing all three children assembled in her room. Rolling out of bed, she went downstairs to make breakfast, the children following her.

"What do you want to eat for breakfast?" she asked Richard. Normally, Susan would just make the children whatever she decided they should eat, but today was special.

Richard regarded his mother with large, intelligent eyes. "May I have ice cream, please?" he entreated. Marin and Torchie tugged at Susan's arms, begging to have ice cream, too. Susan complied. She normally would have refused the trio, but today was Christmas. She couldn't possibly say no.

When the children finished their ice cream, they all ran down to the tree, excited to be able to finally open the brightly wrapped boxes and see what they had all received. Susan stared at the little people still decked out in their pajamas. Torchie had on red footie pajamas, Marin seemed to float in her white princess nightgown, and Richard's shirt was too long, his pajama pants too short. She was content for a moment, but staring at the kids, she felt an odd feeling.

_I wonder what could be wrong_, she thought to herself. Then she realized what it was. Torchie, with her white blond hair, stood out from the other two children with their dark locks. She was happy and animated, while the other two were more serious. People might have assumed that she was simply younger, but Susan knew better. Torchie would never grow to be as mature as Richard or even Marin. It wasn't in her blood.

Before any of the children could get their presents open, though, the doorbell rang. Susan heard a surprised gasp from Reed, and his baritone saying, a little hesitantly, "Er… Welcome home, Johnny…"

The two men entered the room where the children were still gathered around the tree. Torchie was the first to notice the stranger with her hair and eye color.

She walked over and gazed at him for a long time, and Johnny gazed back wondrously. A silent conversation seemed to pass between the little girl and her father, who she didn't know. Then, the connection broke.

Torchie's face split into a smile. "I'm Torchie. That's short for Victoria. I want a doll for Christmas," she told him.

Johnny continued to watch his daughter, but he smiled weakly. "Hello, Torchie. I'm Johnny. Johnny Storm."

Torchie looked from Johnny to Susan, and back to Johnny. "You look like Mommy," she chirped. Chattering to Johnny, she walked back over to where her present awaited her.

Johnny didn't need to open any presents. He didn't need to find something in a stocking hanging over a fireplace. It was enough to know how his little girl was okay, how she was a happy, sweet little girl. It should have been the best gift a father could ever have, so he wondered, why did he feel so heartbroken?


	5. Chapter 5 - Responses

Please don't question why there are no smoke alarms in the lab. Reed disabled them after Johnny got his powers... Leave a review! Thanks~

* * *

Present day

"WHAT?!" Victoria screamed, instantly setting fire again. "That's insane! Mom, how can you even SAY something totally gross like that?! Isn't incest, like, illegal, or something?!"

"Calm down, Victoria," Reed told her. "It's not incest."

"HOW, exactly, is it NOT?!"

"Well... we never said that Susan was your mother..."

"WHAT?!"

Reed and Susan glanced at each other. Obviously, this news wasn't going over very well.

"So what, I'm, like, adopted, or something?! That doesn't even make any sense!" She didn't seem to be aware that she was still flaming. What's even worse was that the more agitated she became, the worse her 'condition' was getting. The flames were getting larger; the temperature was rising in the room, and slowly, she seemed to be rising.

"Oh my gosh, Victoria..." Susan whispered.

Victoria's eyes, normally blue, now fiery golden irises coming from a body of fire, widened. "Wha- what's going on?!"

She was ascending – no, she was flying. Flying was something Johnny had mastered long ago, but for Torchie... well, it wasn't exactly a habit of hers to fly around as fire.

The lab was catching fire. Everywhere, embers rained down. Torchie was rising slowly, as if Father Time had tampered with his hourglasses and clocks so that the ticks and tocks and grains of sand were suspended in the air for twice as long as it should have.

Torchie seemed to have lost control. The fire licked around her, spreading to the walls and dropping to the floor. Smoke filled the room, rising to the ceiling. The bright flames coming from Torchie radiated through the smoke; she was a beacon.

She was so majestic, yet in a scary way. It was horrifying and beautiful at the same time. The girl was the sun in the middle of a cloud of dust. Susan gasped at the beauty of her niece, but she started to cough. The smoke was filling up the room as quickly as Pietro Maximoff running.

Susan stared at her niece. She didn't know what to do. She had a pounding headache, and she was scared. She didn't know how to grab Torchie.

_Wait a second_, she thought. _Duh! Force fields!_

What she hadn't accounted for was that it was harder to contain fire inside of a force field than it was to contain a person. Torchie may have been in a human shape, but while she was up in the air, especially considering her lack of experience and her present emotional state, the flames flared and danced. Susan was unable to contain them. Finally, she was able to put Torchie inside of a sphere.

The flames danced and flared for a second, but gradually, without the oxygen they needed to keep them going while still allowing Torchie to breathe, the flames died out, leaving just a very exhausted looking thirteen year old girl in her badly burned pajamas breathing very slowly. Both conveniently and strangely, as soon as Torchie stopped flaming, the flames in the lab also died down. Susan lowered the orb to the ground, releasing her niece.

She rushed to her side, just as Torchie collapsed.

_Oh dear God, please let her be okay_, Susan prayed.

She watched as Reed felt for a pulse and tried to revive her.

"Susan," he said grimly. "Call an ambulance."

Susan nodded silently, getting up shakily to the phone. She was in shock, and she didn't realize how slowly she was walking.

"I mean it, Susan," Reed said in a thick voice. Susan had never heard him speak in this tone.

"What's wrong?" she asked desperately.

"She's not breathing."

* * *

Author's note:

I'm sorry it's short, everyone! ^^ I've been so obsessed with writing Chorale lately, that I haven't written anything for Fired Up! I know you've all been waiting for Torchie's response, so this chapter is for Vigatus, who has given me great advice throughout! Thank you, and I hope you liked it!


End file.
